Eagles To Compete at Inaugural Whitworth Twilight Meet

Apr 11, 2012

Eastern will also travel to Ellensburg on Saturday for the
Spike Arlt Invitational

This week, the Eastern Washington University men’s and
women’s track and field teams will be participating in the
inaugural Whitworth Twilight on Thursday (April 12) and at the
Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg, Wash., on Saturday (April
14).

“My expectations this week are to execute at the ability
we are capable of,” said men’s head coach Stan
Kerr. “It’s not as high on the adrenalin scale
as other meets, but everyone is ready. They want to turn on that
switch and improve. It’s the sign of a skilled competitor.
And, the meet is used for athletes, if they have yet to, to qualify
for the Big Sky Championships and to improve their conference
ranking.”

“We’re nearing the time of the season in April where
the conference championships are only four weeks away,” said
women’s head coach Marcia Mecklenburg. "We
have a lot of athletes qualified right now, so I’m thinking
it’s just about improving on marks and preparing for those
championships.”

As of last weekend, there are currently 30 qualifying marks
achieved by members of the men’s and women’s team, but
Kerr feels a couple of other athletes are ready to make the
jump.

Martha Sanford, a long hurdler, has been
steadily improving on her times this season. At the Dusty Lane
Invitational on April 7, Sanford ran the 400 hurdles in 1:09.36.
Since then, she has improved her time to 1:08.64.

“Martha is ready to qualify,” said.
“She’s been working hard in practice and it’s
about to pay off.”

Indoor all-conference pole vaulter Nick Stearns
is currently ranked sixth in the conference, and is expecting to
qualify very soon.

“Nick didn’t automatically qualify for indoors, but
he still was all-conference,” said Kerr. “Now, he wants
to get that automatic qualification and get back up to the
competition level from indoor season.”

Also, Kerr has another form of motivation for the team this
week, especially when it comes to the Whitworth Twilight meet.

“This is the first time the Twilight has ever been
held,” said Kerr. “So I told the team, ‘If you
win the event, you are the meet record holder for one year.’
It sounds kind of goofy, but it’s actually a pretty good
incentive to keep them fired up.”

“The Whitworth meet is low-key and will have a little less
pressure than another meet” said Mecklenburg. “With
less pressure I can see a lot of athletes improving on their marks
and to enjoy themselves by having some fun.”

SEASON NOTES

Big Sky
Conference Preseason PollsVoting is calculated with each team receiving nine
points for a first place vote, eight points for a second place
vote, etc. Coaches are allowed to vote for their respective teams.
Below are the final results with the number of first place votes in
parenthesis.

TOP SEASON PERFORMANCES

Kyle King – Distance – Sr. – 3L -
Coupeville, Wash. / Coupeville HS '08
With his 14:10.42 time in the 5,000-meter run at the Stanford
Invitational, King completely shattered his own outdoor personal
record by 25 seconds, moving him into third all-time in Eastern
history.

Tim Pettit - Distance - So. - 1L - Kent, Wash. /
Kentwood HS ‘10
Pettit placed second in the 800-meter run at the Al Manuel
Invitational with a career-best time of 1:52.38. The time qualified
him for the outdoor conference championships.

Angelica Rodriguez -Sprints - So. - 1L
- Hermiston, Ore. / Hermiston HS '10
Rodriguez matched her career best in the 400 meters with a time of
57.14 at the Al Manuel Invitational. The time places the sophomore
ninth all-time in school history in the 400. She also ranks tenth
in school history in the 800, with a time of 2:16.88 on Feb. 12,
2011 at the Husky Invitational.

Michelle Coombs - Throws/Jumps - So. - 1L - Hermiston,
Ore. / Hermiston HS '08 Coombs won the javelin with a throw of 147-11 at the
Dusty Lane Invitational on March 17, the first time she’s
thrown in nearly two years. As a freshman in 2009, she was the Big
Sky champion in the event, but injuries have slowed her down since
then. She ranks third in school history with a 163-1 throw in
2009.

Brad Michael – Sprints – Fr. – HS -
Vancouver, Wash. Michael, EWU’s freshman phenom, continued where he
left off from the indoor season, by winning both the 200- and
400-meter dashes at the Dusty Lane Invitational. His time of 48.18
in the 400 met the Big Sky qualifying mark. During the indoor
season, Michael broke the school record in the 400 (46.97) en route
to a second-place finish, and he placed third in the 200 with a
time of 21.63 that ranks third in school history. He was also was
part of the 4x400 relay team which won the Big Sky title with a
school-record time of 3:11.04.

Steven Warner - Hurdles - So. - 1L - Kent, Wash. /
Kentwood HS '09 Warner, the 2012 Big Sky Indoor champion in the 60-meter
hurdles, finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.80 March 31 at the Al
Manuel Invitational. His career best in that event is 14.60
set as a freshman in 2010. Warner had a school-record time of 8.07
in the 60-meter hurdles indoors earlier this season, good for
second all-time.

Cody Humphrey – Throws - Jr. - 1L - Hermiston,
Ore. / Hermiston HS '09 Humphrey, who is also an tight end for EWU’s
football team, qualified for the Big Sky Championships with a
career-best throw of 156-11 in the discus at the Dusty Lane Open on
March 17.

Eastern
will also travel to Ellensburg on Saturday for the Spike Arlt
Invitational

This
week, the Eastern Washington University men’s and
women’s track and field teams will be participating in the
inaugural Whitworth Twilight on Thursday (April 12) and at the
Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg, Wash., on Saturday (April
14).

“My
expectations this week are to execute at the ability were capable
of,” said men’s head coach Stan Kerr.
“It’s not as high on the adrenalin scale as other
meets, but everyone is ready. They want to turn on that switch and
improve. It’s the sign of a skilled competitor. And, of
course to qualify if you have yet to, and to improve your
conference ranking.”

“We’re
nearing the time of the season in April where the conference
championships are only four weeks away,” said women’s
head coach Marcia
Mecklenburg. We have a lot of athletes qualified right
now, so I’m thinking it’s just about improving on marks
and preparing for those championships.”

As
of last weekend, there are currently 30 qualifying marks amongst
the men’s and women’s team, but Kerr feels a couple of
other athletes are ready to make the jump.

Martha
Sanford, a
long hurdler, has be steadily improving on her times this season.
At the Dusty Lane Invitational on April 7, Sanford ran the 400
hurdles in 1:09.36. Since then, she has improved her time to
1:08.64.

“Martha
is ready to qualify,” said. “She’s been working
hard in practice and it’s about to pay off.”

Indoor
all-conference pole vaulter Nick Stearns, is currently
sixth in conference, and is expecting to qualify very
soon.

“Nick
didn’t automatically qualify for indoors, but he still was
all-conference,” said Kerr. “Now, he wants to get that
automatic qualification and get back up to the competition level
from indoor season.”

Also,
Kerr has another form of motivation for the team this week,
especially when it comes to the Whitworth Twilight meet.

“This
is the first time the Twilight has ever been held,” said
Kerr. “So I told the team: ‘If you win the event, you
are the meet record holder for one year.’ It sounds kind of
goofy, but it’s actually a pretty good incentive to keep them
fired up.”

“The
Whitworth meet is low key and will have a little less pressure than
another meet” said Mecklenburg. “With the less pressure
I’m seeing a lot of athletes improving on their marks and to
enjoy themselves by having some fun.”

Big
Sky Conference Preseason PollsVoting
is calculated with each team receiving nine points for a first
place vote, eight points for a second place vote, etc. Coaches are
allowed to vote for their respective teams. Below are the final
results with the number of first place votes in
parenthesis.

Rodriguez
matched her career best in the 400 meters with a time of 57.14 at
the Al Manuel Invitational. The time places the sophomore ninth
all-time in school history in the 400. She also ranks tenth in
school history in the 800, with a time of 2:16.88 on Feb. 12, 2011
at the Husky Invitational.

Michelle
Coombs - Throws/Jumps - So. - 1L - Hermiston, Ore. / Hermiston HS
'08Coombs
won the javelin with a throw of 147-11 at the Dusty Lane
Invitational on March 17, the first time she’s thrown in
nearly two years. As a freshman in 2009, she was the Big Sky
champion in the event, but injuries have slowed her down since
then. She ranks third in school history with a 163-1 throw in
2009.

Brad
Michael – Sprints – Fr. – HS - Vancouver,
Wash.Michael,
EWU’s freshman phenom, continued where he left off from the
indoor season, by winning both the 200- and 400-meter dashes at the
Dusty Lane Invitational. His time of 48.18 in the 400 met the Big
Sky qualifying mark. During the indoor season, Michael broke the
school record in the 400 (46.97) en route to a second-place finish,
and he placed third in the 200 with a time of 21.63 that ranks
third in school history. He was also was part of the 4x400 relay
team which won the Big Sky title with a school-record time of
3:11.04.

Steven
Warner - Hurdles - So. - 1L - Kent, Wash. / Kentwood HS '09Warner,
the 2012 Big Sky Indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles, finished
the 110-meter hurdles in 14.80 March 31 at the Al Manuel
Invitational. His
career best in that event is 14.60 set as a freshman in 2010.
Warner had a school-record time of 8.07 in the 60-meter hurdles
indoors earlier this season, good for second all-time.

Cody
Humphrey – Throws - Jr. - 1L - Hermiston, Ore. / Hermiston HS
'09Humphrey,
who is also an tight end for EWU’s football team, qualified
for the Big Sky Championships with a career-best throw of 156-11 in
the discus at the Dusty Lane Open on March 17.